Design The End : Follow The Horizon

Fighting stubbornly against the dwindling popularity of 2000s-flavored emo/screamo (while claiming all the while to sound "utterly original"), Orlando, FL's Hand to Hand spend the bulk of 2009's Design the End/Follow the Horizon regurgitating well-worn clichés. (And what's with those twin titles? Did the bandmembers stitch two EPs together, or simply fail to make up their minds?) Sure, Hand to Hand possess sound musical chops and the necessary arrangement acumen to operate comfortably within this genre's wildly divergent emotional extremes, ranging from quasi-metallic onslaughts for the boys to sensitive pop-punk melodies for the girls, as well as that dual vocalist schtick: one emo, one screamo. But so what? So can every other group of musically hip, post-teen musicians from their generation...heck, even Christians can do this stuff! Not to get hysterical here, and in Hand to Hand's defense, this album does show them moving away from a few tired gimmicks like songs with goofy titles that have nothing in common with their lyrics (only "Last Saturday Was Way Better" and "I Drew a Portrait in Philly" raise red flags), while embracing a few different strokes as heard in the riff-heavy, album-closing instrumental "Let's End This Album with a Party." And accomplished bassist John Raudebaugh also steals a few headlines from his six-string colleagues throughout this set, which is highly atypical in this style of music. But, at the end of the day, Hand to Hand still sound as though they're coming off an emo production line, which, incidentally, seems to be in danger of being shut down for lack of sales, last we checked. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|